This invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning conveying elements of conveyor systems, and more particularly but not exclusively relates to the cleaning of conveyor rollers.
This invention has particular application to the cleaning of the rollers of a roller conveyor system in order to remove dust or other contaminants from the conveyor rollers which otherwise would be transferred on to articles or materials being conveyed by the rollers. When transporting items such as photographs or photo-tools along a roller conveyor, it is essential that contaminants from the conveyor rollers are not transferred on to the roller-contacted surfaces of the photographs or photo-tools, thereby to prevent the contaminants adversely affecting the optical properties of the items which would otherwise result in defective and products. A known procedure for cleaning conveyor rollers comprises manually wiping the rollers with a cloth, but this procedure necessitates gaining adequate access to the rollers, which may require, for example, that equipment incorporating the rollers be at least partially dismantled. At the very least, prior art conveyor cleaning procedures extensively disrupt normal productive operations.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for cleaning conveying elements of conveyor systems which obviates or mitigates the disadvantages of the prior art.